Door closure for wing hangars



Jan. 26, 1954 B. H. TRIPP 2,666,962

DOOR CLOSURE FOR WING HANGARS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 F iled Oct. 6, 1951 F/G/ I 6 J- L r-l r x I -q In van far Bur/6W H Tripp By his af/omeys Jan. 26, 1954 B. H. TRIPP DOOR CLOSURE FOR WING HANGARS Filed Oct. 6, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 //7 van/0r 5mm 77/pp By his af/omeys Jan. 26, 1954 B. H. TRIPP DOOR CLOSURE FOR WING HANGARS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 6, 1951 /nven/0 Bur/6W H 7740p By his al/omeys m QR Jan. 26, 1954 TR 2,666,962

DOOR CLOSURE FOR WING HANGARS Filed 001;. 6, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 /n van/0r Bum? H Tn'pp By his af/omep Patented Jan. 26, 1954 UNITED STATES i- ATfiNT OFFICE DOOR CLOSURE FOR WING HANGARS Burrell H. Tripp, Scarsdale, N. Y.

Application October 6, 1951, Serial No. 250,157

3 Claims.

This invention relates to door closures for wing hangars and more particularly to the closure of the hangar doors around the iuselages of the airplanes. Wing hangars are buildings to house the nose and wings of an airplane, leaving the tail and the balance of the fuselage exposed to the weather. Occasionally such hangars are built to enclose only the nose of the machine, and it should be understood that the term wing hangars also includes that type of building. In order to enclose the fuselage in back of the wings it has been necessary partially to close the hangar doors in back of the wings and use canvas flaps to fit around the fuselage. Such flaps have been quite unsatisfactory as closures against the weather, and no satisfactory substitute has heretofore been known.

I have illustrated a wing hangar which forms a building giving complete closure against the weather. Such hangar is so built that it can receive practically any type of plane which is likely to be sheltered in such hangar, and in the smaller sizes two planes can be housed simultaneously, if desired. My wing hangar not only affords the complete closure mentioned but it also is adapted to protect the fuselages against damage from any minor movements caused by wind blowing on the exposed tails of the planes. It is characteristic of my invention that inflatable means are provided around the fuselage to close the space between the fuselage and the cutout in the door and to afiord the cushioning eiIect against damage. I also provide interchangeable inserts in the doors so that planes with fuselages of different profiles or heights can be accommodated. I provide a single large pair of doors for the bigger planes, and two smaller side door for the medium-size planes.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a wing hangar made in accordance with my invention, showing two different medium-size planes in the hangar.

Fig. 2 is another plan view of the same hangar showing it used to house a single large plane at the center door.

Fig. 3 is another plan view of the same hangar showing a still larger plane housed at the center door.

Fig. 4 is another plan view of the same hangar showing a large swept-back-wing plane at the center door.

Fig. 5 is a view of the same hangar in front elevation showing twoplanes accommodated at the two side doors, the exposed parts of the planes being omitted in order to illustrate the manner in which the profiles of the fuselages are related to the hangar.

Fig. 6 shows the panels of the doors for the left half of the hangar shown in Fig. 5.

Figs. 7, 8, 9. and 10 are views in elevation of th interchangeable inserts for the doors of Fig. 6; Fig. 7 showing the insert for one type of large plane at the center door, Fig. 8 an insert for another type of plane adapted to be accommodated at the center door, Fig. 9 the insert for a medium-size plane adapted to be accommodated at a side door, and Fig. 10 the insert for a medium-size plane having a slightly different fuselage profile to be accommodated at the other side door.

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of a portion of the fuselage of an airplane with the inflated tube placed thereon, showing means for lifting and lowering the tube. V

Fig. 12 is an elevational view of the tube of Fig. 11.

In aeronautics it is desirable to have buildings which can house all of a plane except the tail, in order that the remaining parts of the machine may be protected against the weather and be continuously available for inspection and overhaul. In such buildings it is necessary to close the opening around the fuselage. It has been customary to leave a pair of the doors partly open so as to clear the fuselage on all sides. Up to the present, no satisfactory method of closing the resulting opening has been known. The most common method has been by means of canvas flaps, and these are definitely unsatisfactory. Furthermore, it is distinctly uneconomic to have to provide a separate wing hangar for each different size or type of plane. Each plane usually has a different size and shape of fuselage, the elevation of the fuselage differing according to the type of ship. According to my invention the following construction is provided.

In order to move planes in and out of hangars, the entire front of the building, or at least large portions of it, must be removable. In the examples I have shown in the drawings, the entire front of the hangar building 32 is composedof panels or doors which slide laterally on rails. It will be seen that these doors slide on three different rails I, 2 and 3, the innermost rail I being shown carrying the doors 4 adjacent the end walls of the hangar and the center fuselage doors 7a, lb; the middle rail 2 carrying the middle doors 5, 5a; and the .outerrail 3 carrying the doors 6a, 6b which are adjacent the fuselages of the ships shown in Fig.1. The doors 1c,

1b adjacent the fuselages of the ships shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are on the innermost overhead rail I.

The doors 6a, 6b and la, lb may be termed fuselage doors and are cut out to provide clearance around the fuselage when the doors are closed. The doors are shown in closed position in Figs. 1-4. It is one of the principal features of my invention that the fuselage doors meet at the center line, out out to the approximate shape of the fuselage and leaving a clearance in which I place an inflated tube 8 to be held firmly between the doors and fuselage. An example of such an inflated tube is shown in Fig. 12. Such a tube extending completely around the fuselage can be described as a torus tube. I prefer to make this tube of rubber or similar elastic material and to make it for use as a low pressure tube. For example, the pressure might be not more than three to five pounds. The tube is built to fit the profile of the fuselage of the particular type of plane on which it is to 'be used. It can be placed around the fuselage before the doors are closed against it. The tube can be inflated either before or after being put in position around the plane. I have shown inflation valves 9 at two points in the tube. namely, near the ends which are brought together to complete the ring around the fuselage. I also provide a relief valve l somewhere in the tube. A typical size of tube is one in which the cross-section is about two feet, six inches. The clearance between the cutout of the door and the fuselage should be about two feet. The result is that when the door is closed with the tube inflated the tube is squeezed somewhat to the shape shown in Fig. 11. The inflated tube can be suspended from the roof I of the hanger, if desired, by means of rope slings II, a horizontal bar l2, cable I3 and several manipulating ropes :4 (see Fig. 11). The ropes M are attached to the inflated tube at points removed from the suspension bar and rope slings. The tube is shown placed aft of the wings l8 of the plane.

It will be noted that byforming the tube circle with two separable ends, it can .be manipulated over the fuselage of the plane by means of the manipulating ropes l4 even when the tube is inflated under light pressure, as above mentioned.

It will be observed that when a tube or inflatable means of this kind is in position on the airplane fuselage and the doors are closed around it, there is provided not only a weather seal and complete .enclosure for the wings and nose of the plane, but .at' the same time a cushioning effect is introduced which prevents damage to the fuselage. The inflated means acts as .asort of cushion or bumper against any-slight movement of the fuselage caused by wind on the .tail of the fuselage.

In order that my wing hanger may be available to house more than one type or size of plane, with the tails of the fuselages extending outside .of the hangar, I make my fuselage doors .in the left and right-hand .side'fuselage doors 8a, 6b.

If desired, windows 1"! canbe placed "in any of Tubes can be available for diiferent fuselage profiles.

the doors. I have shown such windows in the middle doors, the side fuselage doors of Figs. 5 and 6, and the middle doors 5a. In order that the hangar may be able to accommodate any one of several different ships through any given fuselage door, I make the fuselage doors of such a design and shape that the opening in the main door frame itself is larger than the outside limits of any fuselage to be handled plus the clearance at that particular door. To this end the side fuselage doors have openings 20 in which inserts, such as those identified by the numbers 2! and '22 in Figs. 9 and 10, can be placed. A separate insert is furnished for each different plane to beaccommodated at this door with its cut-out of a size and'location to fit the particular plane and with sufficient clearance in addition to the torus tube. Thus, for example, the insert 22 shown in Fig. 10 is indicated in dotted lines at the left side fuselage doors 6a, 6b, with the fuselage profile also shown there. This is the plane 23 at the left in Fig. 1. It will be noted that the profile of the fuselage of this plane has a reentrant curve. The insert '2l shown in Fig. 9

- is for a plane which has a circular fuselage profile. This is the plane 21 at the right in Fig. 1. It will be noted that the fuselages of these Figs. 9 and 10 are relatively near the ground. These fuselages belong to planes of what may be termed medium size. On larger planes the profiles of the fuselages frequently are further above the ground. It is desirable, for several reasons, to use a different door in the hangar for these large planes. In the example shown in the drawings I put the inserts for these larger planes in the middle fuselage doors "la, lb. The openings for the inserts are marked 25. Typical inserts are Nos. 23 and 24 shown in Figs. '7 and 8, the one in Fig. '7 being substantially round and the one in Fig. 8 having a flat bottom. It will be noted that in Figs. 7-10 I have shown the insert for only one of the two doors which enclose the fuselages, namely, the left-hand door. There will, of course, be corresponding inserts for the right-hand doors 6b of the side doors and 1b of the center door. In Fig. 6 I have shown only the left-hand middle fuselage door 1a, and the entire figure shows only the doors for the left half of the front of the hangar shown in Fig. 5.

t may be desirable to "have the building completely closed when there are no planes in it, or if there is a plane in with its fuselage projecting from one pair of doors, the other 'two fuselage openings must be closed. I propose to do this by sliding or hinged closure panels 33 carried on the inner face of the fuselage doors 6a, 6b, 1a. 1b. The inserts'with .cut-outs'to receive the fuselages are fastened in the doors Ea, 6b, 1a, lb in the plane of those doors, thus avoiding interference with the closure panels 33.

As already mentioned, one of the necessities for a. practical hangar of this type is that it be able to accommodate several different ships. To handle these ships of different sizes and types,

. some with straight side wings and others with swept-back wingsyas well-as fuselages of different shapes and heights from the ground, it will be noted that I have concentrated all the fuselages of the medium-size planes 'in the side fuselage doors. The bigger and higher fuselage profiles of the larger planes will be located at the center door. This increases the usefulness of the hangar and planes of different sizes and types medium planes on the side, it is possible to accommodate either one large plane or two medium-size planes in the hangar at the same time.

I do not claim in this application the combination of this arrangement of door closures with the particular shape, area and structure of the hangar building which assist in making possible a combination of all the different types of planes shown in Figs. 14.

My invention is directed to the door closure and the combination of the center and side door closures above set forth.

What I claim is:

1. Closure for Wing hangars for aircraft having fuselages, said closure comprising a pair of doors, each of said doors having a section cut out to admit one-half of an aircraft fuselage, each door being arranged to meet the other at the center line of the fuselage, and means compressible in the plane of the doors for insertion between said doors and an aircraft fuselage in combination with a removable insert in each door, said outout section being located in that insert, whereby cut-out sections of various shapes can be put in said doors to suit different aircraft and a weathertight cushion seal is provided about the fuselage of the aircraft.

2. Closure for wing hangars for aircraft ac cording to claim 1 and including a movable panel for each door and means enabling said panel to be moved across the cut-out section of the door to close the cut-out when no fuselage is located in a particular pair of doors.

3. Closure assembly for wing hangars comprising in combination a pair of doors, each door being substantially a mirror image of the other, a resilient ring cushion and a set of removable inserts for each door, said set comprising a plurality of inserts, each having a section cut out to the approximate shape of one-half an aircraft fuselage, with clearance, different inserts of the set being shaped to different fuselages, whereby said closure may be adapted to fit around the fuselage of a variety of aircraft, and means for attaching said ring cushion to the cut-out portions of an insert to provide a. resilient weather-tight seal about an aircraft fuselage.

BURRELL H. TRIPP.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

